The Edinburgh International Book Festival

Returning to Edinburgh for another guaranteed great wordy line-up is the Edinburgh International Book Festival. Even though it doesn’t kick off until the 14th August (and wraps up on the 30th August), the programme already suggests that this year’s festival will continue to push the boat out in terms of innovation and a refreshing and modern approach to out-of-the-box thinking.

With every day of the festival, which takes over Edinburgh’s Charlotte Square for a fortnight, packed full of readings from international and up-and-coming authors, meet and greets with some of literature’s biggest names, poetry sit-downs and creative workshops, it’s one certainly not to be missed by enthusiasts of all ages.

As a major draw for a the city and a key player in Edinburgh’s selection of festivals every August, the EIBF has already seen many of it’s main events sold out and has announced a programme of free evening events which welcomes poets, musicians and authors from all over the world.

Tickets are now on sale though and this year sees some of the finest names in books come to Edinburgh for another year of literary celebration. Popular fantasy writer Philip Pullman returns to discuss his His Dark Material trilogy, and Scotland’s finest Ian Rankin, Louise Welsh and Alan Bissett are all on the itinerary over the two weeks too.

Just up Lothian Road from Charlotte Square is The Meadows, overlooked by Edinburgh’s prestigious Quarter Mile development, which is where some of the most exclusive Edinburgh accommodation can be found.

Sun bears arrive at Edinburgh Zoo

It’s not often that exotic animals come to Edinburgh but, this week, Edinburgh Zoo welcomed Rotana and Somnang to it’s pack, a couple of Malaysian Sun Bears. The two brothers’ new home is a newly refurbished enclosure which is a long distance from their native Cambodia, almost 6,000 miles away.

After a recent £150,000 refurbishment project to make sure the native South-East Asian bears felt right at home in Scotland, the new visitors are the only pair of their kind in Scotland and are, unfortunately, now a struggling species.

However, Edinburgh Zoo has gone from from strength to strength in recent years thanks to increased donations and a refreshingly forward-thinking approach to conservation, and Rotana and Somnang couldn’t hope for a better home. The pair were rescued in 2004 from a private owner who had cruelly been keeping them both in a tiny cage, but now the bears will thrive as part of a long term breeding loan.

Said to be named after the golden crescent on their chest, it’s not often that a little bit of South-East Asia comes to Edinburgh and, with a lot of activities and initiatives running all summer, Edinburgh Zoo is sticking to it’s goal of safe guarding the world’s rarest species.